Due to the applications and environments that they are used within, it may be advantageous for some medical devices to be manufactured using polymeric materials instead of metal. The use of polymeric materials may allow for reduced cost of acquiring materials, reduced cost of processing raw materials, or both. Polymeric materials may have additional advantages, including reduced weight, which may be desirable for implants, prosthetics, and handheld tools, a reduced change of allergic reaction or related reactions in the case of implants and prosthetics, and improved resistance to rust, corrosion, and other wear that may occur when used in biological applications.
A limitation of polymeric materials that has limited their widespread use is a decreased mechanical strength relative to metallic materials. The strong forces that tools, implants, prosthetics and other objects undergo during use may cause conventional polymeric components to fail in ways that may be dangerous and unpredictable. Even where traditional polymeric components may meet the requirements for mechanical strength, their cost advantages may go unrealized, especially in cases where they are only needed in limited quantities. For example, polymeric components that are mass produced may be able to spread the cost of custom molds used during their manufacture across many produced items, whereas custom implants or prosthetics that require a unique mold may only be able to spread those costs over a handful of produced items.
Additive manufacturing techniques may be used to produce medical devices that achieve the benefits noted above, while also enabling the customization of medical devices such that a given medical device may be structurally configured ad hoc based on anatomy and/or needs of the particular patient for whom the medical device will be used. What is needed, therefore, is an improved system for the additive manufacture of medical devices.